With the present day increase in the number of checks and other financial instruments processed by banking institutions, there is an increased need to automate the requesting, delivery and display of check and other financial instrument copies. This invention accordingly relates to an electronic system for storing and retrieving electronic images of checks and other financial instruments. The system of the invention is particularly adapted to the storage and retrieval of check images and the images of other commercial paper instruments,.but could also be employed to store and retrieve images of other documents.
The financial services industry has provided for more than a century the ability for its customers to write checks and similar instruments. In current practice a payor or customer writes a check representing an amount to be deducted from its account. The check is given to the payee. Checks are normally presented for payment by the payee to the payee""s banking institution (the xe2x80x9cpayee bankxe2x80x9d). In turn, the payee bank presents the check to the payor bank. The payor bank then pays the payee bank, and deducts the check amount from the payor""s account, against which the check is drawn. The check is then marked xe2x80x9cPAIDxe2x80x9d and is often made available in some form (e.g. the original check or a photocopy) to the customer/payor as a record of the payment.
For several decades now the U.S. Government has also required that financial institutions maintain a seven year library (e.g. on microfilm, microfiche or original hard copy) of all checks deposited and/or paid from the institution""s accounts. Because the payor bank is required a maintain this library, it makes and archives a copy of both sides of the xe2x80x9cPAIDxe2x80x9d check prior to forwarding the original instrument, or a copy of it, to the customer.
Accordingly, payor banks must maintain millions upon millions of copies of checks in their files. For example, if a single large customer/payor writes 2,500 checks each business day, seven years of records will comprise over 4,500,000 checks for that customer alone. Thus, banks fill tremendous storage spaces with copies of checks.
At some future date, the payor may be required to produce a copy of a check as proof of payment. This often requires that the payor retrieve the bank copy of the instrument from the payor bank""s archive. Certain financial institution customers, particularly those that write large numbers of checks to the general public, often are required to produce check copies systematically. The situation is the following: the payor/customer writes a check, sends it to the payee and receives through its standard checking account reporting mechanism (e.g. statement) notification that the check has been paid. The payor/customer subsequently receives an inquiry or complaint from he payee stating that payment: (i.e. the check) has not been received.
As proof of payment, the payor/customer must produce the original xe2x80x9cPAIDxe2x80x9d check, or a front and back photocopy of the xe2x80x9cPAIDxe2x80x9d check. From this record, it can determine who cashed it and where it was cashed. If the payee is in error, and has been paid, the payor will typically forward to the payee a correspondence enclosing a copy of the xe2x80x9cPAIDxe2x80x9d check.
The actual number of requests to a payor bank for check copies based upon a payee claim that payment has not been received varies by the type of check. Some known example statistics are:
To accommodate these requests, financial institution customers often maintain their own extensive check libraries.
Often such customer-maintained check libraries are kept on microfilm, which can be made by the customer itself from the returned check or can be purchased directly from the financial institution. The financial institution""s seven year library of check microfilm is often used as a backup source for check copies. In some cases, due to the cost of maintaining an archive, and fulfilling payee requests, the bank""s seven-year library is the customer""s primary source.
Furthermore, depending on the type of customer and account, the institution is often subpoenaed by the government to produce photocopies or originals from its seven year library.
Whether the original checks are kept or they are reduced to microfilm, and regardless of whether it is maintained by the payor bank or the customer, it is readily understood that there are many costs associated with maintaining a check archive and retrieving check copies upon request. For example, the production and manipulation of microfilm libraries is a labor intensive process and the quality of the photocopies produced is often low. Although storing a high resolution digital image of the front and rear surface of a check could be used as a potential replacement for microfilm, the cost of storing all checks in such format, and the difficulty inherent in locating and retrieving them, made this storage media impracticable in the past.
To fulfill its customers"" requests or comply with subpoenas, countless man-hours of searching are required to locate copies of the requested instruments. Due to the immense volume of stored information, the average turn-around timexe2x80x94the time elapsed from when the request is made until the copy is receivedxe2x80x94for fulfilling such requests can vary from a minimum of 24 hours to one to two weeks or more. Importantly, if a check copy cannot be found or its quality is too poor to reconcile the inquiry, the payor may be required to write the check again and send it to the recipientxe2x80x94incurring the expense of double payment despite the expense of maintaining a check library, and searching for a check.
Further, to facilitate processing of checks, the banking industry has, for many years, used a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line on each check. The MICR line of a check is a series of alpha-numeric digits encoded on a check in magnetic ink. The MICR line is also optically readable. A MICR line is found along the bottom of most checks. The encoded information in the MICR line usually includes the account number and check number. Where the check writer (or some intermediate in the check handling process) chooses, the encoded information in the MICR line also includes the amount of the check. Frequently, a large company that prints its own checks may encode the check amount in the MICR line. Normally, when a check is processed, the information contained in the MICR line is scanned, interpreted, and becomes part of the bank""s electronic record of the check.
While previously many banking institutions were forced to maintain large staffs of people to handle manually the time-consuming and tedious task of processing check copy requests, it is desirable to provide a system whereby a customer of the banking institution can request, retrieve, and display copies of checks and, preferably, generate correspondence with a copy of a check, i.e. a check image, all without bank staff involvement. Thus, the present application is directed to an automated system which retains images of the front and back of each check and data associated with that check. The associated data includes the account number, the check number and the check amount as well as image data. The system allows a user to request, retrieve and display check copies with turnaround time much faster than in the prior art.
There are obvious inefficiencies in the current methods of handling customer service inquiries about checks and in the present costly and labor intensive paper and microfilm archives required to support such inquiries.
The invention provides a new financial services product and computer system. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new method and apparatus for providing traditional features of bank services related to check microfilm and commercial paper archives in electronic form.
It is another object of the invention to provide a new method and apparatus for capturing, processing and storing check images for on-line access.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a new method and apparatus for communication for the purpose of requesting and receiving check-images.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a new method and apparatus for locally storing, displaying and utilizing check images in industry standard computer office automation environments.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide an electronic check storage and retrieval system which eliminates the need to maintain costly and inefficient microfilm or paper check archives.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a document storage and retrieval system which is applicable to documents other than checks and commercial paper instruments.
It is yet still another object of the invention to provide a system which facilitates error correction in the MICR line of checks, and furthermore which facilitates such error correction in an efficient manner, requiring a small number of keystrokes or minimal operator interaction to accomplish such error correction.
It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide at the financial service customer""s request, a system with the ability on a daily basis to scan a customer""s paid checks at a resolution level superior to that available from traditional microfilm and photocopy methods and in excess of all readability requirements for the customer service investigation functions described above as well as other applications such as signature verification, check fraud evaluation, return item processing, etc.
It is another object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to index and store check images in a relational database supporting appropriate access and inquiry requirements.
It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to create a permanent, reliable, legal and auditable store record of check images, superior to that available in the current system of microfilm, photocopy and paper records.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a system having the ability for the financial services institution customer or user to request access to images in an efficient, reliable and orderly way that allows for the maintenance of both electronic and permanent records of the inquiries for both management and audit control.
It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide a system allowing a requester user to transmit check copy requests to the financial institution and receive information back (e.g. the electronic check images) by means of a new method consistent with current telecommunications file transfer standards.
It is furthermore another object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to return electronic check images at the customer""s request in the following ways:
axe2x80x94by direct and immediate on-line transmission,
bxe2x80x94by electronic batch request and batch return of files of check image requests and check images,
cxe2x80x94by bulk transmission of image files according to standing orders (e.g. all return items, all items above $1,000, etc.)
dxe2x80x94by delivery on magnetic or ocher media such as magnetic tape or disk,
exe2x80x94by delivery on electronic optical or other media such as WORM disk, CD-ROM or magneto-optical disk, etc.
fxe2x80x94by all of the above ways of returning the image supported by an implementation of industry standard image formats with new features specifically designed to support the recipient""s effective handling of individual electronic check images or arbitrarily large files of electronic check images.
It is yet still a further object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to display the received electronic images in a windowed graphical user interface consistent with industry standard office automation and computer workstation environments.
It is yet still another object of the invention to provide a system having one or more user workstations where a user has the ability to manipulate the displayed, received image in a manner required to support the objectives of the underlying check investigation applications (e.g. to enlarge, enhance, rotate, etc. the image).
It is yet still a further object of the invention to provide a system having a user workstation where the user can review and maintain the local database of check images within the constraints of the possibly limited local disk space available to industry standard office automation and computer workstation environments.
It is yet still a further object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to create reports and audit records or all check image related events a the requester workstation level.
It is yet still a further object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to accomplish all the above functions when the requester""s workstation is part of an industry standard LAN environment and software and/or data and/or telecommunications support are executed at the LAN server level.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a system having the ability to accomplish all the above functions (save the last mentioned) when the recipient wishes to originate and/or receive transmissions from a mainframe computer system.
As is evident from the above description of current check processing system, a highly sophisticated problem is presented when copies of hundreds or thousands of checks requested by a customer or customers need to be processed by a banking institution and the need arises to verify the check information. The system described herein provides a solution to this problem. For example, the inventive system can accomodate all the check image requests generated at today""s largest check processing institutions on their peak days.
The invention provides a solution to this customer service problem which heretofore involved intensive manual processing. The invention provides an electronic document image storage and retrieval system including a customer service workstation that can request, retrieve, display, manipulate and print copies of documents, particularly checks, and furthermore create correspondence for a client incorporating copies of document images.
The system of the invention includes an electronic host archive storage and retrieval system for storing and retrieving copies of checks or check images. This host archive system is linked via a communications link, e.g., modems and telephone line, to one or more generally remotely located customer workstations.
For the purpose of this application, a customer is the customer of the banking institution and which utilizes a workstation according to the invention to request and retrieve copies of checks from the banking institution. For the purpose of this application, an operator, user or requester is the individual who operates a workstation according to the invention.
For the purpose of this application, a workstation or image station may be a standard desktop computer that utilizes a graphical user interface. Also, a workstation preferably has local magnetic disk storage or other storage, contained in the unit or is linked to a magnetic disk drive or other storage unit via a network communications device commonly referred to as a file server.
In the invention, use is made of multi-tasking and multi-windowing environments such as Microsoft Windows(trademark) or IBM OS/2(trademark) to provide a graphical interface for the system of the invention that the operator uses to interact with the retrieved check image copies.
According to the invention, the operator or customer can make requests by account number and check number for a specific check at the local workstation. The requests are stored locally until the operator is ready to forward the requests to the banking institution.
Once an operator is ready to forward the requests to the banking institution, the workstation will dial the host computer controlling the archive system at the banking institution. Once connected to the host computer, the host will prompt the operator or customer for a user-ID and password to initiate the file transfer. Once the ID and password are verified, the requests are translated into a file and transferred to the host archival system.
After a predetermined processing time to retrieve and sort the check images, the workstation operator can initiate a download or file transfer from the host archival system. The host system will transfer a front image and a separate back image for each check.
Each check image has the MICR line information embedded in the check image file for identification. The identification information contains the account number, the check number, amount and date of the check.
Once downloaded to local storage of the workstation, the system software resident at the workstation will read the data stored within each check image file to obtain the account number, check number and amount of the check. When check images are receive a at the local workstation, the system software will correlate the check request entry with the check images. The filename of the check in the local database as well as a status field will be updated so as to indicate that the item has been downloaded, processed and received from the host archive system.
Once all of the downloaded check images have been processed, they are available for review by the operator.
According to the invention, an operator can select a menu item to present a Select/Display screen at the workstation that lists alpha-numerically the downloaded checks and those requests for check download which are pending. On this Select/Display screen, an operator has the option to sort the check images by account number/check number, amount, a user reference number, status and date. Status indicates whether the item is Pending, Received or Exported. A pending item is a request that has been sent or uploaded to the host archive but not yet downloaded. A Received item is an item that has been downloaded to the workstation, processed and is ready for viewing. An Exported item is a check image that has been downloaded to the workstation but not requested. According to the invention, a customer has an option of indicating if it wants all check images sent to the workstation (exported) without the need to request each image specifically.
Preferably, according to the invention, an operator may click with a mouse or other pointer device to select an item indicated on a screen display of the workstation or select an item for viewing by using cursor arrow keys of a computer keyboard and striking the enter or return key. Once selected, the system will read the file names for the front and the back of the check images. The system of the invention preferably will read and display the front and back check images into a separate window for each check image. The separate windows for each front and back check image are referred to herein as a check-centric display interface. This check-centric display optimizes (i.e. minimizes) the amount of time a user would have to search for information on the check images.
According to the invention, the front of the check may be displayed in maximum width horizontally in the left window. The back of the check then may be displayed in the right window vertically and enlarged to display the endorsement section. The endorsement section of a check is the section where a payee would indicate its account number and signature or endorsement stamp. This feature saves the operator from rotating the check image vertically in order to read the endorsement. At this point, an operator has the option of manipulating the check image to enhance the readability of the information.
The system of the invention provides a toolbar or button zone, preferably as a screen icon, for each check display window. The operator may, *or example, enlarge, reduce, rotate relative left, rotate relative right, invert the image absolute 180 degrees, and invert the colors of the image from black on white background to white on black background. The inverting of colors from black to white helps an operator read check endorsement stamps that federal and banking institutions use to indicate processing. Thus, an operator or customer may obtain information regarding where the check was presented for payment.
According to the invention, a facility to highlight a specific area of a check image has been provided for fast enlargement. This facility allows an operator to zero in on specific information and enlarge it so it is more readable to the human eye.
In addition to the toolbar or button zone, an operator may select the manipulation options from a menu zone that lists all the options in text rather than graphical representation. Furthermore, to expedite the selection process, the system will allow a user to select the manipulation options by clicking a mouse or other pointer device""s button on any area of a check display window to display a pop-up list of the manipulation options in text.
In addition to the Select/Display screen to select a specific check, the system preferably has two navigation buttons located at the bottom of the screen one button is a graphical representation of an arrow facing down to move forward through the local database of check images. Another button is a graphical representation of an arrow facing up to move backward in the local database of check images. Once the operator operates these navigation buttons, the system will automatically display next/previous check images in a default order (account number and check number) or any other order specified by the user. These navigation buttons allow an operator the ability to quickly review the downloaded check images. This is a significant improvement over manually handling physical paper checks.
A facility to store a customer account number is also provided by the invention. An operator can add or delete any corresponding account numbers that are supplied to and processed by the host archive system. This account number facility allows a customer to manage its accounts without the intervention of the banking institution. Further, the Select/Display screen will read this account number file to facilitate the fast selection of the specific account number from a graphical list box.
Further according to the invention, a database maintenance facility is provided to manage downloaded check images. The invention provides a configuration parameter to indicate when a check image should be listed in the database maintenance screen. This configuration parameter is used to indicate the threshold number of calendar days before a check image should be included in a database maintenance screen report. Each downloaded check image is stored locally at the workstation.
It is conceivable that at some point in time the check images available for downloading will exceed the amount of physical storage space available at the workstation. An operator can select the database maintenance option to purge or physically delete check images and the corresponding database record. An operator preferably has two options according to the invention: one is to select a check individually for deletion and the other is to delete all the check images and entries that appear in the database maintenance screen.
A facility to copy the front or back check image to a temporary storage area, e.g., a Microsoft Windows(trademark) clipboard, is provided. The ability to share the image with other desktop applications improves the operator""s ability to create correspondence or additional documentation in today""s office computing architecture.
According to the invention, a facility to incorporate the check images into customer correspondence is preferably provided. An operator may select a document template that is created with an industry available word processing package. The document and check images are merged along with address information of the recipient (payee) to create a document that can be sent to the payee to confirm that the check was received by the payee and paid. An operator may print out the document to send to a payee via conventional mail delivery service such as the Postal Service. However, if the system software is installed on a workstation that supports outgoing fax services via modem communications, an operator may fax the correspondence directly to a payee""s fax machine. This automated correspondence processing represents a significant improvement in the time it takes to prepare correspondence and send it to a payee.
The objects of the invention described above are achieved by a method for storing and retrieving images of documents comprising placing a plurality of documents in a document imaging machine and forming an electronic image of each document, storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device, providing at least one user interface device in communication on a communication link with the electronic storage device, placing a request for at least one document image on the user interface device, transmitting the request by the communication link to the electronic storage device, searching the electronic storage device for the requested electronic image of the document, retrieving the at least one electronic image or providing an indication that the image was not found, storing the electronic image, if found, in an electronic file, for transmission to the user interface device at user option, providing the electronic image to the-user interface device at command of a user at the user interface device for storage at the user interface device and displaying the requested electronic image on a display of the user interface device.
The objects of the invention are furthermore achieved by apparatus for storing and retrieving images of documents comprising a document imaging machine for receiving a plurality of documents and forming an electronic image of each document, an electronic storage device for storing each electronic image, a user interface device in communication on a communication link with the electronic storage device, the user interface device saving an input device for placing a request for at east one document image and or transmitting the request on the communication link to the electronic storage device, a computer for searching the electronic storage device for the requested electronic image of the document and for retrieving the at least one electronic image or providing an indication that the image was not found, an electronic file for storing the electronic image, if found, for transmission to the user interface device at user option, the computer adapted to provide the electronic image to the user interface device at command of a user at the user interface device for storage at the user interface device, and a display for displaying the requested electronic image at the user interface device.
According to the preferred embodiment of the method of the invention, the step of forming an electronic image comprises forming an electronic image of two sides of a two sided document.
Also according to the preferred embodiment, the step of storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device comprises storing the electronic image in a mass storage device.
Further according to the preferred embodiment, the step of storing in a mass storage device comprises storing each electronic image in an electronic optical storage device.
According to the preferred embodiment, the document comprises a check and the step of placing a request for a document image comprises entering an account number and a check number for the requested check.
Also according to the preferred embodiment, the step of placing a request for a document comprising a check further comprises entering an amount of the check.
According to the preferred embodiment, the step of placing a request for a document comprising a check further comprises entering a user defined reference field.
Furthermore, according to the preferred embodiment, the step of transmitting the request over the communication link comprises transmitting the request over a telephone communication link.
Also according to the preferred embodiment, the documents comprise checks each having a magnetic ink code line thereon, and the invention further comprises electronically reading and decoding the magnetic ink code line to form decoded magnetic ink coded data and the step of storing comprises merging the electronic image and the decoded magnetic ink coded data into a tagged image file format (TIFF) file, with the decoded magnetic ink coded data stored in a tag field in the TIFF file, each check being associated with a TIFF file, and storing the TIFF file in the electronic storage device.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises storing the TIFF file in a queue prior to transmitting the TIFF file to the electronic storage device.
Also according to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises forming a plurality of the TIFF files for respective checks and storing the plurality of TIFF files in the queue, grouping a plurality of the TIFF files into a binary large object (BLOB) and transmitting the BLOB to the electronic storage device.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises forming a plurality of BLOBS and transmitting each BLOB to the electronic storage device.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises generating an index record for each of the pluralilty of TIFF files in the BLOB, and storing each index record in an index database.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of generating an index record comprises generating the decoded magnetic ink coded data for each check and a BLOB pointer to the BLOB containing the image of a particular check.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of storing each electronic image in an electronic storage device comprises bundling a plurality of the images together in a grouping and storing the grouping as a unit in the electronic storage device, to increase the speed at which images can be stored in and retrieved from the electronic storage device.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of searching the electronic Storage device for the requested electronic image comprises searching the index database by using the account number and check number of the requested check, thereby determining the BLOB containing the image of the check, and using the determined BLOB pointer to find the check image in the electronic storage device
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises the step of checking for errors in the decoded magnetic ink coded data.
In the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises the step of correcting the decoded magnetic ink coded data comprising determining if the decoded data requires correction, assigning a specified character to characters requiring correction in the decoded data, displaying the uncorrected decoded data on a display device with the specified character replacing characters requiring correction, entering data to replace the specified characters, and replacing the specified characters with the entered data.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises checking if the number of characters in the data entered is equal to the number of specified characters and if so replacing only the specified characters with the entered data; if the number of characters in the data-entered is less than the number of specified characters, replacing all the decoded data with the entered data; and if the number of characters in the entered data is greater than the decoded data, generating a warning message to confirm that the entered data is longer than the decoded.,data prior to replacing the decoded data with the entered data.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of displaying the requested document image comprises displaying a screen identifying at least one document, and further comprising selecting at least one document for display on the display.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the document is a check having two sides, and wherein the step of displaying the requested electronic image comprises displaying an image of each side of the check.
Still further in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the check has a front and a back side and the step of displaying comprises displaying the front side of the check in a first screen window in an initial horizontal format for normal reading by a user and displaying the back side of the check having an endorsement thereon in a second screen window so that the endorsement is disposed in an initial format horizontally for normal reading by a user.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second screen windows are displayed simultaneously.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises providing user operated controls to allow selected ones of enlarging and reducing the size of the displayed images of the front and back sides of a check, rotating the images to improve readability and scrolling through the images.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises the step of providing a word processing function for the creation of a secondary document and loading the requested document image into the secondary document.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises providing the user defined reference field back to the user at the user interface device to enable sorting of check images according to the user reference field.
According to the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises sorting the check images provided to the user interface device from the electronic storage device by at least one of account number, check number or amount.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the invention further comprises storing request data for each requested check at a local database at the user interface device, and the step of displaying the requested electronic image comprises selecting an image for display, comparing a the request data for the requested check to the electronic file supplied from the electronic storage device and displaying the electronic image whose request record coincides with the data representing the requested check.
Thus the invention provides solutions to the problems of customer service regarding processing of requests for copies of checks and delivering copies of checks to customers by providing an all electronic check image requesting, retrieval and delivery system.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.